A new study published in The Lancet into the health impacts of sustained conflict in Africa estimates that 5 million children aged under 5 have lost their lives to violence between 1995 and 2015, and also draws attention to how war has indirectly harmed the health of today’s young Africans.
Researchers from Stanford University, Aga Khan University (AKU), and Johns Hopkins University analysed data on over 15,000 conflict events across 35 African nations. They found an enormous toll of conflict on children due to deaths from direct injures as well as easily preventable diseases such as dysentery or measles, or from hunger and malnutrition.
“Conflict appears to substantially increase the risk of death and stunting of young children over vast areas and for many years after conflicts have ended,” says Dr Eran Bendavid from Stanford University, California, USA, the study’s lead researcher.
Researchers noted that the impact of civil wars, rebellions, and interstate conflicts also generates a series of lethal, knock-on effects on communities that disrupt basic services such as water, sanitation, vaccinations, and medical care.
Since 1989, three-quarters of domestic armed conflicts worldwide have taken place in Africa. The study finds that armed conflict also compromises the infrastructure of a country raising the risk of neonatal mortality by impacting the provision of maternal healthcare during pregnancy, labour, and delivery.
“This analysis shows that the effects of armed conflict extend beyond the deaths of combatants and physical devastation,” said AKU’s Dr Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, one of the authors of the study and founding director of the University’s Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health.
“Armed conflict substantially increases the risk of death of young children for a sustained period of time and morbidity, especially developmental outcomes. The toll of conflict on children underscores the indirect toll of conflict on civilian populations, and the importance of developing interventions to address child health in areas of conflict.”
The study’s findings have implications for global efforts to achieve targets under goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals which call for specific measures to end preventable deaths of children under the age of 5 by 2030.
The results of the study also relate to Sustainable Development Goal 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions which highlight the need for countries to reduce all forms of violence and related deaths.